FR2654872A1 - ELECTRICAL CONNECTION DEVICE FOR INJECTOR OF FUEL SUPPLY DEVICE OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. - Google Patents

Abstract

The device comprises an electrical connector (10) capable of being connected to an electromagnetically actuated metering and spraying valve (6) forming part of a fuel supply device for an internal combustion engine, so as to send control signals to the valve itself; the connector has a body (11) of which is integral a temperature sensor (20) capable of measuring the temperature of the air supplied to the fuel supply device, this sensor comprising electrodes capable of being connected to an electrical circuit in which the sensor itself is inserted.

Description

-1 The present invention relates to an electrical connection device

  comprising an electrical connector capable of being connected to an electromagnetically actuated metering and spraying valve forming part of a fuel supply device for an internal combustion engine. This device, as is known, essentially comprises a body capable of being fixed to the engine supply manifold and in which is essentially dug a conduit for the mixture, along which a butterfly valve is inserted; on the aforementioned body is disposed a cover in which is hollowed out a conduit for the supply air to the device and along which is arranged an electromagnetically actuated fuel metering and spraying valve, capable of supplying the '' a predetermined amount of fuel along the air duct to form a mixture of air and

fuel.

  Part of this supply device an electrical connector capable of being connected to the aforementioned valve and which essentially comprises a body provided with electrical connection elements connected, by means of suitable electrical conductors, to an electronic control unit and capable to be coupled to corresponding electrical connection elements carried by a valve cap, in order to supply electric current to the valve itself; the supply device further comprises a temperature sensor capable of measuring the temperature of the air supplied to said fuel supply device, this sensor comprising electrodes connected, by means of other cables, to a second electrical circuit in Which one is

inserted the sensor.

  Fuel supply devices which are provided with an electrical connector and a temperature sensor of the type briefly described have certain drawbacks. Above all, there is the great length of the electrical connections which are required to supply electric power to the fuel metering and spraying valve and the electrical connection of the temperature sensor to the electrical circuit concerned: indeed, it is necessary to '' insert the electrical connector into the cap of the aforementioned valve, then it is necessary to connect the temperature sensor, which is located on the cover of the device in a position which is distant from the aforementioned valve, with the cables concerned mentioned in first, capable of connecting this sensor to the electrical circuit concerned; this connection is normally carried out using a second

electrical connector.

  In addition, this second electrical connection between the temperature sensor and the corresponding electrical circuit can take place in a particularly disadvantageous manner because of the position in which the sensor is normally mounted, a position which, being very close to the body of the motor vehicle, significantly limits

accessibility to the sensor itself.

  Finally, since the temperature-sensitive element with which the sensor is provided is not exposed to the center of the air flow which serves to supply the device, there is a disturbance in the correlations between the temperature of the layer of air and actual temperature

sucked air.

  The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connection device comprising an electrical connector capable of being connected to an electromagnetically actuated metering and spraying valve forming part of a fuel supply device for a combustion engine internal, of the type briefly described, thanks to which

  be eliminated the disadvantages listed.

  This object is achieved by an electrical connection device comprising an electrical connector which comprises a body provided with electrical connection elements arranged to be connected to a first electrical circuit and capable of being coupled to corresponding electrical connection elements carried by a valve cap when the connector is connected to the valve, in order to supply electric power to the valve itself, characterized in that said connector body is integral with a temperature sensor capable of measuring the temperature of the air supplied to said fuel supply device, said sensor comprising electrodes capable of being connected to a second circuit

  in which said sensor is inserted.

  The electrical connection device according to the present invention will be better understood on reading the

  detailed description, given as an example and in

  look at the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 and 2 show, respectively in side view and in plan, the cover of a fuel supply device which is provided with the electrical connection device according to the invention; FIG. 3 represents a perspective view of the fundamental parts of the electrical connection device according to the invention; 4 shows another perspective view of the electrical connection device, in which are provided other parts which are not shown in the previous figure; Figures 5 and 6 show perspective views of other embodiments of the electrical connection device according to the invention; FIG. 7 represents a plan view of a part of a supply device in which the connection device is inserted

Figure 6.

  With particular reference to Figures 1 and 2, the electrical connection device according to the invention can be inserted into a fuel supply device for an internal combustion engine, part of which is shown in Figures 1 and 2 This device essentially comprises a body 1 capable of being connected to the engine supply manifold and in which a conduit 2 is hollowed out to supply the mixture formed by the device to the conduit itself; along the conduit is inserted a butterfly valve 3 The device further comprises a cover 4 disposed above the body 1 and fixed thereon in any suitable manner In the cover is hollowed out an air supply duct 5 (Figure 2) communicating with the duct 2 of the body 1 and along which is inserted an electromagnetic actuation fuel metering and spraying valve, generally designated by 6 As can be clearly seen in Figure 2, this valve is inserted substantially in the center of conduit 5 and is

  supported by a suitable support element 7.

  The fuel metering and spraying valve, well known per se, essentially comprises a cap 8 which is provided with connection elements

  electric (not shown in the figures).

  The electrical connection device according to the invention essentially comprises an electrical connector 10 which essentially comprises a body 11 provided with electrical connection elements (not shown) arranged to be connected to a suitable electrical circuit and capable of being coupled to the elements of electrical connection cited first, carried by the cap 8 when the connector is connected to the valve, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in order to supply electric current to the valve itself As can be clearly seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the body 11 of the connector has substantially the shape of a small parallelepipedal block from which protrudes a sleeve 12 in which the abovementioned electrical connection elements are housed and two elastically deformable fins 13 capable of allowing the mechanical fixing of the connector to the cap 8: for this purpose, each of these fins is provided with a slot 14 capable of catching on a corresponding tooth 15 of the cap 8, which can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 The connector 10 is then delimited in the upper part and

  lower by surfaces 16 and 17.

  According to the invention, the body 11 of the connector is integral with a temperature sensor, designated as a whole by 20, capable of measuring the temperature of

  the air supplied to said fuel supply device.

  Suitably, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, this sensor comprises a rod 21 projecting from a small base block 22, a temperature-sensitive element 23, connected to the end of the abovementioned rod and a Ti protective element 24, also projecting from the base 22 The base 22 of the temperature sensor 20 constitutes a single piece with the body 11

  and protrudes from the upper surface 16 of the body itself.

  The temperature sensor 20 comprises electrodes (not shown) capable of being connected to an electrical circuit (not shown) in which is inserted

the sensor itself.

  The aforementioned electrical connection elements of the connector 10 are connected to one end 25 (FIG. 3) of a first pair of cables 26 coming from an appropriate electrical circuit forming part of a control unit, while said electrodes of the sensor temperature 20 are connected to one end 27 of a second pair of cables 28 coming from said first mentioned electric circuit, in which the same sensor is inserted. The cables 26 and 28 of the two aforementioned series having a section inserted in a support element 29 can be fixed on the cover 4 of the supply device on which the valve is fixed, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 The support member 29 has the shape of a small block and is provided with two parallel grooves 30 capable of receiving

  corresponding protrusions 33 of the cover 4 (Figure 4).

  The other ends 34 of the pair of cables 26 are connected directly to the first cited electrical circuit, while the other ends 35 of the second series of cables 28 are connected directly to the second electrical circuit into which the temperature sensor 20 is inserted (this connection is indicated by arrow A) In addition, according to an alternative embodiment represented in FIG. 4 by arrow B, the above-mentioned ends 34 and 35 are connected to a second electrical connector 36 which has electrical connection elements 37 capable of '' be coupled to corresponding electrical connection elements (not shown) which are in electrical connection with the

  first and second electrical circuits mentioned.

  According to another embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the first electrical connector 10 and the second electrical connector 36 are firmly connected together so that the electrical connection elements 37 of the connector 10 (not shown) and the elements of electrical connection 37 of the second connector 36 are carried by the same body, designated by 11 in FIGS. 5 and 6 In this embodiment, similar to the previous embodiments, the temperature sensor 20 is connected to the body 11 and the base of the body itself protrudes from the upper surface 16 of the body 11 The rod 21 and the protective element 24, both protruding from the base 22, can be perpendicular to the surface 16 of the body 11, as shown in the figure 6, or be arranged substantially parallel to the surface itself, as shown in the

figure 5.

  In the case of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, the connection device according to the invention further comprises another electrical connector 38 (FIG. 7) comprising connection elements (not shown) capable of being connected to the connection elements 37; the connection elements of this connector are connected by means of cables 39 to the first and second electrical circuits of the control unit. The connector 38, which can be of any known type, is suitably provided with two fins provided with slots capable of coupling with

  corresponding teeth 41 (FIGS. 5 and 6) of the body 11.

  Use of the connection device

  The electric circuit described is carried out as follows.

  The ends 24 and 35 of the cables 26 and 28 (FIG. 4) are connected to the corresponding circuits which are part of an electronic control unit for the supply device. In this method of connecting the electrical device to the control unit, it is sufficient to '' make a single electrical connection made by inserting the electrical connector 10 on the cap 8 of the fuel metering and spraying valve 6. In this way, the electrical connection operation turns out to be faster and easier than what is goes with the previous connection devices in which, as indicated above, it was necessary to make two different electrical connections, one in the fuel metering and spraying valve and the other for the temperature sensor In addition, this connection operation is facilitated by the fact that the accessibility to the cap 8 is great, while in the prior devices, accessibility to the temperature sensor is rather poor Finally, the sensitivity of the temperature sensor turns out to be very high, owing to the fact that it is located appreciably in the center of the air stream which serves to supply the device, this current crossing the

conduit 5 (Figure 2).

  The embodiment represented in FIG. 4 and which corresponds to the connection according to arrow B may prove to be preferable to the preceding ones insofar as the assembly constituted by the supply device and the connection device concerned must be tested before d 'be mounted on the motor vehicle: in this case, the connector 10 can be bonded to the valve 6 and an acceptance test can be carried out by connecting the connector 36 to suitable test devices; when the supply device is mounted on the motor vehicle, its electrical connection with the electronic control unit can be carried out in a simple manner by inserting the connector 36 on a block of

  appropriate connection (not shown).

  The same advantages as those listed can be obtained with the electrical connection device of Figures 5, 6 and 7, which may prove preferable to that

  in fig 4 for specific types of application.

  Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but it is capable of numerous modifications and variants.

  without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (7)

  1 electrical connection device comprising an electrical connector <10) capable of being connected to a metering and spraying valve (6) with electromagnetic actuation forming part of a fuel supply device for an internal combustion engine, said connector comprising a body (11) provided with electrical connection elements arranged to be connected to a first electrical circuit and capable of being coupled to corresponding electrical connection elements carried by a cap (8) of said valve when the connector is connected to the valve, characterized in that said connector body <11) is integral with a temperature sensor (20) capable of measuring the temperature of the air supplied to said fuel supply device, said sensor comprising electrodes capable of to be connected to a second electrical circuit in which said sensor is inserted.   2 electrical connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that said electrical connection elements of said connector <10) are connected to one end (25) of a first pair of cables (26) from said first electrical circuit and that said electrodes of said temperature sensor (10) are connected at one end (27) to a second pair of cables (28) coming from said second electrical circuit, the cables of said two pairs having a section of cable inserted in a support element (29 ) capable of being fixed on a cover (4) of said supply device to which said valve is fixed.   3 electrical connection device according to claim 2, characterized in that said support element il (29) has the shape of a small block and is provided with two parallel grooves (30) capable of receiving corresponding projections (33) of said cover. 4 Electrical connection device according to   any one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that the other ends (34) of said first pair of cables (26) are connected to said first electrical circuit and that the other ends (35) of said second series of cables (28) are connected said second electrical circuit.   Electrical connection device according to   any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by   the fact that the other ends (34,35) of said first and second pair of cables (26,28) are connected to a second electrical connector (36) which has electrical connection elements (37) capable of being coupled to corresponding elements of electrical connection which are in electrical connection   with said first and second electrical circuits.   6 electrical connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that said first (10) and second (36) electrical connectors are firmly connected together so that said electrical connection elements (37) of said first connector and said elements electrical connection of said   second connector are carried by the same body (11).   7 electrical connection device according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises a third electrical connector (38) having electrical connection elements capable of being connected to said electrical connection elements (37) of said second connector (36) , said electrical connection elements of said third connector (38) being connected by means of cables (39) to said first and second electrical circuits.   8 Electrical connection device according to   any one of the preceding claims, in   which said temperature sensor (24) comprises a rod (21) projecting from a small base block (22), a sensitive element (23) connected to the end of the rod and a C-shaped protective element (24) also projecting from said base, and wherein said first connector (10) has substantially the shape of a small parallelepipedal block delimited by upper (26) and lower (17) surfaces, characterized in that said base (22) of said sensor (20) projects from said   upper surface (16) of said small block.   9 electrical connection device according to claim 8, characterized in that said rod (21) and said protective element (24) are perpendicular to the upper surface (16) of the small block. 10 electrical connection device according to claim 8, characterized in that said rod (21) and said protective element (24) are arranged on a plane parallel to said upper surface (16) of the small block.